Mnangagwa Wins Zimbabwe’s Presidential Poll

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has won Zimbabwe’s presidential election, according to the country’s electoral commission.

With all 10 provinces declared, Mr Mnangagwa won 50.8% of votes to 44.3% for opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.

Police removed opposition officials from the electoral commission stage when they rejected the results.

The chairman of Mr Chamisa’s MDC Alliance said the count could not be verified.

By narrowly winning more than 50% of the vote, Mr Mnangagwa avoids a second run-off election against Mr Chamisa.

The president said he was “humbled” on Twitter, and called the result “a new beginning”.

Mr Chamisa has insisted he has won the presidential poll, telling reporters earlier on Thursday the ruling Zanu-PF party was “trying to bastardise the result”, something that “we will not allow”.

But the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) said there was “absolutely no skulduggery”.

Opposition supporters protested in Harare over alleged vote-rigging, which led to six deaths on Wednesday.

The elections were the first since long-time ruler Robert Mugabe, 94, was ousted in November last year.

The polls were intended to set Zimbabwe on a new path following Mr Mugabe’s repressive rule.

Harare was a ghost town on Thursday following Wednesday’s violence, as troops patrolled the city centre ordering people to “behave”.

Mr Mnangagwa said the government was in talks with Mr Chamisa to defuse the crisis and proposed an independent investigation to bring those who were behind the violence to justice.

“This land is home to all of us, and we will sink or swim together,” Mr Mnangagwa said in a series of tweets.(BBC)